Georgia guard Marcus "Smurf" Millender is smothered by Xaivian Lee (1) and Alex Condon (21) during UF's latest sufforcating defensive performance, this one an 86-66 road win at Athens.
Gators Bury Bulldogs For 5th Straight Road Win
Wednesday, February 11, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
ATHENS, Ga. – Asked to sum up how the Florida Gators have played defense the last few weeks, sophomore point guard Boogie Fland went with a one-word answer Wednesday night.
"Extraordinary," he said.
Yeah, that works.
Add the Georgia Bulldogs to the growing list of Southeastern Conference opponents to flounder in the face of Florida's ferocious "D," which this time limited the league's highest scoring team to less than 35% shooting and a season-low point total on the way to an 86-66 Dog-pounding at sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.
The win was the fourth straight for the Gators (18-6, 9-2) – as well as their ninth over the previous 10 – but also a fifth in a row on the SEC road, making for the third-longest such streak in program history. UF, which has averaged a 27.3-point victory margin in the four consecutive wins, maintained a one-game lead over second-place Kentucky and Arkansas in the SEC standings, with UK coming to Gainesville this weekend.
"I thought our defense, again, was fantastic," said UF coach Todd Golden, whose squad has held its last three road foes to a combined 30.1% from the floor. "As we've learned over the last couple weeks for our group, when we guard and rebound, we're pretty tough to beat. It's got to be our calling card."
Senior guard Xaivian Lee led UF's five double-figure scorers with 18 points, including a season-high three 3-pointers, to go with seven assists, three steals and zero turnovers in 32 minutes. Fland had 15 points, with backup guard Isaiah Brown pitching in 12 points off the bench, also with a trio of 3-pointers. Forward Alex Condon scored 12 points and grabbed five boards, with forward Thomas Haugh adding 11 points, plus five assists.
Rueben Chinyelu didn't find the double-figure scoring column. All the 6-foot-10½, 265-pound junior center did was grab a whopping 20 rebounds – just the fourth 20-rebound road performance in program history; the first since 1973 – and anchor a defense that put a fence around the Bulldogs (17-7, 5-6) both inside and out.
Georgia had no answers for Rueben Chinyelu (9) in the post. Few teams have this season.
UGA came into the game leading the SEC at 91.9 points per game, also second in the nation, but was without guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, their scoring leader at 17.2 per game, who was out with a shoulder injury. The way UF is smothering opponents these days, Georgia alum and NBA all-star Anthony Edwards may not have been able to help the cause.
Count Bulldogs coach Mike White as a believer in what the Gators are doing at that end of the floor.
"They don't allow a lot of 3s. They don't allow assists. Their ability to guard the ball one-on-one at a high level collectively, 1 through 5, and even the guys off the bench, was on display to where they force you into playing isolation at times and putting your head down because obviously, again, they're extended on shooters," said White, who fell to 1-8 in meetings against Golden, his UF successor. "They just did a really good job of one-on-one defense, especially deep in the paint with wall-ups and physicality and forcing some turnovers. I thought in transition defense, they were phenomenal, too."
The Gators wasted no time setting the tenor. They scored the game's first 10 points, six of them from Fland in transition, and led by as many as 20 points late in the first half, thanks to forcing a 5-for-23 start by the Bulldogs, before going to the locker room with a 43-27 lead.
UF was six of 14 from the 3-point line (42.9%) for the period, with Lee and Brown each dropping a pair. It was a pleasant sight for a team that came in at 28.8% from distance on the season, the worst among the nation's 79 power conference teams.
"When we're making 3s, we look amazing," Lee said.
Guard Xaivian Lee (1) lines up for a 3-ball on his way to 18 points, seven assists, three steals and no turnovers.
Georgia scored the first seven points of the second half to cut the lead to nine, the first time in single digits since the 10:30 mark of the opening period. But just as the home crowd was feeling – more like hoping for – a little vibe, Haugh tossed in his first field goal of the game, a timely 3-pointer. And after a defensive stop, UF backup guard Urban Klavzar threw in another to take the margin quickly back out to 15.
At the 11:50 mark, after Fland heaved home in a late-shot clock 3-pointer – his first converted long ball in seven games – the lead was up to 22. The Bulldogs made one last charge, cutting the deficit in half with just over four minutes left, but the Gators hit their last six shots to finish at 51% overall and 10-for-26 from the arc (38.5%) and exited Stegeman, site of their last defeat before rolling to the 2025 NCAA championship, with a fourth SEC road victory by at least 17 points.
Remember when this team fell to 9-5 after dropping its SEC opener at Missouri?
Seems like a while ago. If not another team ago.
"I think a lot of people wanted to count us out and say, 'You're not last year's team,' and we handled that the right way," Golden said. "We didn't point fingers. We weren't blaming each other for the lack of success, and we just stayed the course. We kept working and practicing, and we leaned into each other, and I think over the last month and a half we've been playing really good basketball."
